US To Spend $413bn More On Afghan War

A decision by US President Barack Obama to extend the presence of American troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014

The Stunning Decline Of Barack Obama

The last few weeks have been a nightmare for President Obama, in a summer of discontent in the United States which has deeply unsettled the ruling liberal elites, so much so that even the Left has begun to turn against the White House.

‘Israel Convinces US With Credible Military Plan On Iran’

Have Israel’s efforts to convince the US to threaten Iran with a credible military option paid off? According to recent media reports, the answer might be yes.

Australian PM Announces Snap Election

Australia’s new prime minister has announced snap elections to be held next month.

Report Reveals Poor Planning On Reconstruction Of Iraq

A detailed official history of the U.S. effort to reconstruct Iraq after Saddam Hussein’s overthrow in 2003 blamed its failings on “blinkered and disjointed” prewar planning, a deadly insurgency and wasteful and ill-managed contracting.

The 500-plus page document also asserts that the Bush administration, in early stages of the war, exaggerated the number of Iraqi forces trained to help American troops provide adequate security.

The study, “Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience,” was produced by a special U.S. auditing group that has dug deeply into the multibillion-dollar reconstruction effort since 2004. It is a detailed summation of the findings from many previous audits and reviews by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, led by Stuart Bowen.

Among its central conclusions is the Washington was unprepared and ill-equipped to reconstruct Iraq in the aftermath of an invasion that led to an insurgency, a collapse of government and an economy that “switched off.” The document also suggests that this arose from an ill-fitting U.S. national security structure, which it said could produce an equally ineffective reconstruction effort in future conflicts.

Thus far the United States has spent about $50 billion on Iraq reconstruction.

FULL STORY

• Ottawa Engineer Believe The US Had No Intention Of Heeding Group’sq Advice To Rebuild Iraq

Iraqi Journalist Throws Size 10 Shoes At President Bush

During a farewell visit to Baghdad on Sunday, President George W. Bush defended a war that has taken far more time, money and lives than anticipated, saying the conflict “has not been easy” but was necessary for US security, Iraqi stability and “world peace”.

But in a sign of lingering anger against the US military presence, an Iraqi journalist shouted: “This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” and hurled his shoes at the US president during a news conference with prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Throwing shoes at somebody is a supreme insult in the Middle East. One of the shoes sailed over the president’s head and slammed into the wall behind him and he had to duck to miss the other one. Mr Maliki tried to block the second shoe with his arm.

“It’s like going to a political rally and have people yell at you,” said Mr Bush. “I don’t know what the guy’s cause was. I didn’t feel the least bit threatened by it.”

Mr Bush had landed in Iraq under a veil of secrecy for his fourth and presumably final visit as president.

He was scheduled to meet US troops and Iraqi leaders about a security agreement that calls for the withdrawal of US forces by 2011.

After meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at Salam Palace, Mr Bush hailed the security agreement as “a reminder of our friendship and as a way forward to help the Iraqi people realise the blessings of a free society”.

“The work hasn’t been easy, but it has been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope, and world peace,” Mr Bush said, adding: “I am just so grateful that I had a chance to come back to Iraq before my presidency ended.”

Mr Bush’s praise for the security agreement is particularly remarkable given that the US administration spent years dismissing proposals for withdrawal timelines as dangerous admissions of defeat. The agreement came after months of hard bargaining by Iraqi leaders, who insisted on a firm date for the removal of US troops.

The US president’s visit comes against a backdrop of declining violence across Iraq, which the Bush Administration attributes to a buildup of thousands of reinforcements last year.

But attacks have continued and many areas in Iraq remain unstable, particularly in the north. Last week, at least 57 Iraqis were killed in a suicide attack at a popular restaurant outside of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Mr Bush left Iraq and arrived in Afghanistan late on Sunday, a pool report from Air Force One said. The White House said Bush plans to meet with US troops and Afghan President Hamid Karzai and address US troops.

Source: Financial Times

• Arab World Hails Shoe Attack As Bush’s Farwell Gift

Bombing Of Iran Imminent Part 2 – US Ready To STRIKE!

Translation: Attack On Iran Expect[ed Soon]

 

 

The biggest Newspaper in the Netherlands today devotes its front page to news that the Dutch intelligence agency has helped the CIA prepare for an air attack on Iran which it now believes is imminent.

AVID, Holland’s military intelligence service, has pulled back from operations it was carrying out inside Iran as it believes an American led attack will go ahead within weeks according to De Telegraaf’s sources.

The headline reads:

“AIVD is calling back spy because of US plans
ATTACK ON IRAN IMMINENT”

De Telegraaf reports that the decision has already been made by the U.S.
to attack Iran using unmanned aircraft. Potential targets are said to be nuclear facilities and military installations. The latter have been mapped by the CIA with the help of the Dutch secret service.

A portion of the article reads:

Good sources have declared to the Telegraaf that the AIVD has been operating in Iran for the last few years with the purpose of the infiltration and sabotage of the weapons industry of the Iranian republic.

The operations are said to have been “very successful” but have recently been put to a halt because of american plans for an air attack. Information regarding the AIVD operation has been shared with the CIA in recent years according to the sources.

Iran is probably working towards an atomic bomb and refuses to comply to western demands to stop enriching uranium. In june Israeli vice president Shaul Mofaz made the statement that an Israeli attack is inevitable if Iran continues its quest for atomic weapons.

Holland is a staunch ally of the U.S. government in the “war on terror”. Dutch troops have served on the front lines in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

The full article is online here.

Source – Infowars

A roughly translated version can also be found here.

• Bombing of Iran Imminent
• UN: Any Attack On Iran Will Spark Fireball In Region
• It Has Always Been About Oil
• Internal US Debate On Iran Strike Plans

It Has Always Been About Oil

We somewhat had given up searching for commentary on the news surrounding Western oil companies worming their way back into Iraq to exploit its oil fields again after being kicked out by Saddam Hussein. For those still brainwashed by the usual rhetoric out of Washington, the below article was taken from Barbados Underground posted by Green Monkey from Toronto Sun a previous online edition we had use in the past and forgot all about!

These wars are about oil, not democracy

By ERIC MARGOLIS
Toronto Sun

PARIS — The ugly truth behind the Iraq and Afghanistan wars finally has emerged.

Four major western oil companies, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and Total are about to sign U.S.-brokered no-bid contracts to begin exploiting Iraq’s oil fields. Saddam Hussein had kicked these firms out three decades ago when he nationalized Iraq’s oil industry. The U.S.-installed Baghdad regime is welcoming them back.

Iraq is getting back the same oil companies that used to exploit it when it was a British colony.

As former fed chairman Alan Greenspan recently admitted, the Iraq war was all about oil. The invasion was about SUV’s, not democracy.

Afghanistan just signed a major deal to launch a long-planned, 1,680-km pipeline project expected to cost $8 billion. If completed, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline (TAPI) will export gas and later oil from the Caspian basin to Pakistan’s coast where tankers will transport it to the West.

The Caspian basin located under the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakkstan, holds an estimated 300 trillion cubic feet of gas and 100-200 billion barrels of oil. Securing the world’s last remaining known energy El Dorado is a strategic priority for the western powers.

But there are only two practical ways to get gas and oil out of land-locked Central Asia to the sea: Through Iran, or through Afghanistan to Pakistan. Iran is taboo for Washington. That leaves Pakistan, but to get there, the planned pipeline must cross western Afghanistan, including the cities of Herat and Kandahar.

SNIP

Washington disguised its energy geopolitics by claiming the Afghan occupation was to fight “Islamic terrorism,” liberate women, build schools and promote democracy. Ironically, the Soviets made exactly the same claims when they occupied Afghanistan from 1979-1989. The Iraq cover story was weapons of mass destruction and democracy.

http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Margolis_Eric/2008/06/22/5953041-sun.php

• UPDATED – US Can Strike Any Country From Within Under New Agreement

• US Can Strike Any Country From Within Iraq Under New Agreement
• UN Any Attack On Iran Will Spark Fireball In Region